Design-Love Series: Awesome Umbrellas

As I write this short but sweet post for October, the rain is hammering at my the window. It is proper chucking it down today and I really do need to find my umbrella…rella…rella…rella (can’t say that word nowadays without the Rhianna song popping into my head!). SO, here’s a little Design-Love piece on some of the marvellous, pattern-tastic umbrellas that you can buy (as an alternative to plain black, or grey, or navy) and add some much-needed colour to the dreariest of autumn days:

Once upon a time, (it broke in a gust of wind. I actually cried) I owned this umbrella by the uber-talented designer and paper-cutting master, Rob Ryan. Unfortunately I can no longer find it still available for sale, but, despite the rain coming down, it made me smile every time I opened it, so I felt I couldn’t leave it out.

Moving on to umbrellas that you can actually buy(!), my top choice has to be the wet-weather offering from the Queen of Accessories and Design Hero of mine – Orla Kiely. There is a range to choose from, but these are definitely my favourites – classic Orla stem print and then a bit of monochrome with splashes of colour:

If a clear umbrella is more your thing, then there are plenty of pretty prints to choose from. This red lips/spot one from Lulu Guinness and a pretty floral number from the folk at John Lewis just a couple of examples:

The San Francisco Umbrella Co (available in the UK from Brollied) do a fab range of bright umbrellas, featuring animal silhouettes (lots of dogs!) This Labrador puppy caught my eye:

A little more conservative, but jolly pretty, is this one from Joules:

and finally, Radley have some fun and colourful umbrellas, featuring the infamous Scottie Dog – this one being one of my favourites:So there you have it – a bit of inspiration for your next brolly purchase. PLEASE – don’t go for boring black – Be Brave. Be Bold and get some colour in your life!